University of Illinois Trustee Park Livingston and former State Sen. Mark Rhoads in 1979.
By Mark Rhoads -
Back in 1986, Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas wrote a book about six elder statesmen and diplomats of goodwill from both parties who advised Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower on how to shape the post-World War 2 American foreign policy. The book is called The Wise Men and the term came to refer more broadly to any group of respected elder statesmen who cooperated for the common good of the public.
In my opinion from 1945 to 1990 there was a similar a group of Wise Men and elder statesmen of goodwill in Illinois who tried their best to unite Illinois politics and make our debates more civil. But their efforts never received much publlic attention because they often worked quietly behind the scenes. Governors Dwight Green, Adlai E. Stevenson, William G. Stratton, and Otto Kerner could call on these men for sound advice freely given. The Illinois wise men included such leaders as Republicans Samuel Witwer and Park Livingston as well as Democrats such as Chicago labor leader Bill Lee, and State Sen., Cook County Judge, and finally Federal Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz.
I was very lucky to have one of these wise men as my mentor when I was first elected to the State Senate in 1976. His name was Park C. Livingston (1907-1999) and he served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois for 24 years including 10 years as president of the board. In fact, he was the youngest board president ever to take office at the age of 36 in 1943. He was literally born in a log cabin in South Dakota and one of his high school teachers pushed him to attend the University of Illinois at age 19.
Park had both a business and government background. He was a VP at LaSalle National Bank and general counsel and eventually president of Dean Milk Company in Du Page County. But he lived in La Grange in my district. One reason that Park was held in high respect by both parties in Illinois from the 1950s until his death in 1999 was that he always believed that reasonable people should be allowed to entertain reasonable differences of opinion and not have their motives attacked only because they disagreed with a prevailing viewpoint. Park knew that good will and a good sense of humor could help smooth over sharp disagreements and he was a good peacemaker.
One classic example of Park's sense of humor happened when he was called to the office of the president of LaSalle National Bank in the late 1940s. "Boss, Park said, who do we back in the 41st Ward Democratic primary next month, O'Brien and Kluzinski? The president replied, "Why Park, I am surprised at you. You know that bank has to be strictly neutral in a Democratic primary." "Yeah, boss, I know that. Park said, "But what I really need to know is who are we neutral FOR?" The president said, "O'Brien."
When a very complicated bill was amended many times in the General Assembly, Park would often observe that "there are times when we must rise above the excesses of democracy so that we don't shoot some of our own troops by accident."
For all his humor, when a governor of either party asked Park Livingston for sound advice on the university or any other topic, his advice was taken seriously because his only agenda was the welfare of students and the general good of all the people of Illinois. He was truly one of the significant wise men of Illinois and I hope Gov. Rauner has good luck in seeking out the 2015 versions of the Illinois Wise Men.
